Describes status and challenge of worldwide illiteracy. Discusses statistical plausibility of universal literacy by 2000. Predicts literacy universalization will take from 14 to 21 years, depending on region, if 1980s trends continue. Implies literacy work requires action strategies commensurate with problem, including national programs and mass…

This article defines two approaches to pupil control--custodial and humanistic--and reports results of an investigation of the relationship between teacher control ideology and behavior and their influence on quality of life for students. Subjects were 239 elementary and secondary teachers and their students from 5 school districts. (IAH)

This article reports on a study which investigated the question of whether the motivational and attitudinal components associated with wanting to do well, taking risks, and having a progressive ideology are empirically associated with staff ratings of quality. Subjects were 133 preservice primary teachers in England. (IAH)

Compares the extent to which adolescents worry about nuclear war to their frequency of worry about other issues. Looks at the empirical relationships among worry and grade level, gender, trait emotionality, and drug use. Results indicate that adolescents worry more often about school performance and social interactions than about nuclear war.…

Reports a study, based on the father-child occupational linkage theory, that compares the work values of independence, management, and achievement of Jewish and Bedouin-Arab Israeli youth in order to determine if work values differ when the father's occupational status was controlled. Findings failed to support the occupational linkage theory. (LS)

Analyzes the effects of immigrant status, gender, and year of graduation from medical school on the choice of medical practice specialty of 1,043 Korean physicians. Findings suggest that immigrant professionals are more likely to choose marginal economic activities within the professional labor market. (FMW)

Asserts that traditional approaches to multivariate analysis, including standard linear regression techniques, ignore the special character of count data. Explicates three suitable alternatives to standard regression techniques, a simple Poisson regression, a modified Poisson regression, and a negative binomial model. (MJP)

Uses a graphing calculator to predict the record for running a mile, throwing a shot put, and high jumping for any year in the future and the probable record for any year before statistics were kept, based on the statistical analysis of prior records. Data tables and a computer program are provided. (MDH)

Investigates the influence of the familiarity of the setting/interlocuter factors on the oral task performance of adult intermediate second-language learners. Findings indicate that the unfamiliar setting elicited a significant proportion of language transfer errors than the same task performed in a familiar environment. (23 references) (Author/CK)

Reports of five Canadian universities concerning gender discrimination in salaries are reviewed, compared, and evaluated. All found some discrimination, but approaches taken varied considerably. Analysis suggests the focus on single equation models is problematic, and further information gathering is needed. (Author/MSE)

Results from a performance assessment in which 68 high school students wrote essays support the use of latent variable modeling for estimating reliability, concurrent validity, and generalizability of a scoring rubric. The latent variable modeling approach overcomes the limitations of certain conventional statistical techniques in handling…

Discusses issues raised in "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" (Richard Herrnstein, Charles Murray), a controversial book that looks at the role of intelligence in shaping social structure. The authors' methodology, approach, and interpretations of statistical data are criticized. It is suggested that a…

Explores the effects of speech modification, prior knowledge, and listening proficiency on listening comprehension. Results show significant interactions between speech modification and listening proficiency and between prior knowledge and test type. The authors discuss the implications for teaching and testing of listening comprehension,…

Describes a study of preservice teachers that examined the statistical relationships of computer anxiety, computer literacy, equipment familiarity, age, learning style, gender, and teaching area to a teacher's anticipated use of multimedia. Implications for the instructional design of multimedia technology training for preservice teachers are…

Demonstrates a means for estimating the number of retrieved items using well-established selective dissemination of information (SDI) profiles in the SCI, INSPEC, ISMEC, CAS, and PASCAL databases. A correlation between individual database size and number of retrieved documents in technical fields is also examined. (17 references) (LAE)